A Harvest Moon
by stilldeluded
Summary: After the death of his grandpa, Jack Harvest decides to take responsibility of the old farm. Will he be able to bring life back to the abyssmal fields? And what demands will life throw his way in the process? A story of life and love is about to unfold!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Alright, so I got my hands on one of the older Harvest Moon games. Harvest Moon 64 if you want me to be precise. I fell in love with the storyline and conjured up the beginnings of a story that would play through the events of my playthrough. All reviews are appreciated so I hope you have time to sit down with your cups of hot chocolate and blankets and wrap your minds around this fic, and fall back in love with Harvest Moon. **

**Chapter 1**

"...What?"

The news crashed down around his world in the blink of an eye. He dropped the cordless phone from his hand and then hurriedly picked it back up. All he wanted to do was get through with the conversation as quickly as possible, but he didn't want to come off as being rude either.

"W-When did this happen exactly?"

"It had to have been sometime during the night," The man, who had introduced himself as the mayor, responded with a sigh, "I came and visited whenever I could. He was getting on up there, you know? Ninety-six years. I can't even begin to imagine..."

The young man smiled at the mayor's response as he rubbed the back of his head and slid down against the wall of his apartment, "Yea, grandpa always did have a strong will to live."

"Indeed," the mayor chuckled remorsefully, "but I'll tell you what. He was sharp as a tack! Even at ninety-six he could tell you every little detail about his child and grandchild. Right down to their favorite food. Sharp as a tack!"

"Well, thank you for calling," the young man fake-smiled and nodded even though he knew that there was no way the mayor could see the little gesture.

"Alright, well the village is hosting the funeral. It's going to be here at our church three days from now. Think you can make it?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, sir." The young man stated reassuringly. He told the mayor goodbye and ended the call.

The young man's name was Jack Harvest, and for the first time in his twenty-two years of life he felt that his world had been warped. His last and closest grandparent had died. There was no one left to call him a grandson and no one left for him to call grandpa.

It was a very overwhelming feeling that invaded his body, though he could ignore it due to the state of shock he was now experiencing. He just kept reflecting back on the phone call. He heard it repeat inside his head over and over again.

"_I'm calling with bad news, sir...I'm afraid your grandfather has passed away..."_

The phone rang suddenly as if to shake Jack from his stupor. He started fiddling around the floor looking for wherever he had misplaced the phone. Upon finding it, he picked it up and pressed the talk button.

"Hello?"

"Finally! Who were you on the phone with for so long? A girlfriend? I've been trying to get a hold of you for quite some time now!"

"Sorry dad...Actually, I just got off the phone with the mayor of Flowerbud Village...he said that—"

"Oh...he called you too then." His dad sighed on the other end of the receiver, "Guess he looked through all of grandpa's letters and then looked us up. You know how grandpa was. He could never—"

"—never see the point of having a phone." Jack laughed reflectively, remembering when his grandpa had first said such an absurd thing. "I guess it was kinda true though. Everyone he would have probably called always visited him."

"Yeah, your grandpa was always a _pretty_ popular guy," Jack's dad stated somberly, "Always drove me crazy growing up. Could never get a moment's peace around that old house...He was a good dad..."

There was a long and awkward pause where neither said a word to each other.

"Well...," Jack spoke up finally, "Don't forget the funeral is in three days."

"Yeah...," His father said, "...well...I'm gonna get off here."

"Okay...I'll talk to you later." They exchanged goodbyes and Jack hung up the phone.

Jack sighed and picked himself up from the wall and hung the phone back on its receiver. He looked around his stuffy and messy one-bedroom apartment with disdain and proceeded to pick up laundry and tidy up. He had to do something. Anything to get his thoughts away from the problem. He laughed to himself as he picked up yet another white T-shirt and orange scarf. He could never really understand his fellow city-folk's nature to wear expensive name-brand clothing. Jack always felt most comfortable in white T-shirts and blue jeans, which was why they seemed to dominate his wardrobe.

As Jack pulled up another pair of blue jeans to toss in his laundry basket, he noticed a blue picture album underneath it. He smiled to himself as he sat down on his bed and flipped open the cover. There were only a few pictures in it that highlighted his life. The first was a picture of his pregnant mother looking happily at the camera, the second was of his father holding him in his arms when he was a baby, and the third was him at about five years old sitting beside grandpa and his dog.

Jack stopped skimming through and just stared at the picture. Grandpa's happy, white-mustached smile was shining its brightest for the camera. Jack had to chuckle because the look on his own five-year old face was almost embarrassing. He had his mouth opened wide and his tongue sticking out at grandpa. The dog was sleeping in front of them and they were shaded from the sun under the old oak tree out behind the house.

A single tear followed by three more hit the pages before Jack put his arm over his eyes. He ran his hands through his brown hair as soft sobs began to rack his body from out of nowhere. The only thing he felt like doing was pushing his head into his pillow and letting his grief flow out.

* * *

After a three-hour flight, the plane finally landed at the airfield outside of Flowerbud Village. Jack exited the plane and immediately went over to baggage claim. He grabbed his orange overnight bag when it came by on the conveyor belt and headed out for the nearest exit. After a mile long walk, he found himself in the village square. It was a wide open area with sakura trees all around it. The cherry blossoms scattered all around in the wind and kids were playing happily, trying to catch ever petal as they fell. It had been a long time since his last visit to this place, but every time he came here he got caught up in the village's peaceful serenity.

"Ah! Hello there!"

Jack noticed a man sitting on a bench underneath a sakura tree. He was a short middle-aged man of plump proportions. He had a bushy brown mustache and curly light brown hair, which was mostly hidden by a red top hat to hide his balding scalp. He wore a yellow collared shirt with a blue tie and red overcoat and generated a strong aura of kindliness around him.

"You must be Jack. Your grandpa always did love to talk about you."

"And you must be the mayor, right?" Jack asked.

"Indeed I am." The mayor stated proudly, "Well, come now, I'll show you to the house."

* * *

Grandpa's house was a small, wooden cabin with a red tin roof and green shutters on the windows. A "Welcome Home" sign was hanging beside the door for all visitors to see. Jack couldn't help but laugh when he seen it. Grandpa always did consider his house to be open to everyone. In front of the house was a wooden doghouse with a red tin roof on it and an iron-made storage bin.

As they walked up to the front door, a small basset hound came running out from behind the house barking like mad at them. Jack readied himself and when the dog leaped at him, he caught the dog in his arms and head-locked it before brushing his knuckles against its head playfully.

"You're a feisty little dog aren't you?" Jack laughed as the dog tried to bite at his hand. "Hey! Easy there, buddy!"

The dog payed him no mind and instead attempted to bite him again.

"Alright, little tough guy huh?" Jack questioned as he let the dog loose from his grip, "Well come and get me boy! Let's see what you're made of!"

Without a second thought, the basset hound came rushing after him with renewed vigor and Jack ran around the house dodging the dog left and right as it stayed right on his heels. He couldn't help but laugh to himself as the dog started barking at him. It made a leap for him and he ducked down so the dog jumped over him.

As Jack ran around the house a third time, he could see the mayor leaning up against the storage bin chuckling uncontrollably at the antics between the dog and himself. Jack finally wore down after running behind the chicken houses and landed flat on his back in a huge patch of dirt.

The basset hound came up beside him and hopped up onto his chest and stared at him for a long second before proceeding to lick Jack's face repeatedly. Jack laughed nonstop as he tried to pull away from the dog. Finally he pushed himself up to a sitting position and started petting the dog insistently, "All that pent-up energy and no way to let it out. I think I'd be ready to sink my teeth into something too, right buddy?"

The dog barked.

"Well, seems you two became fast friends, eh?" The mayor smiled, walking up to the two as the dog continued licking on Jack's cheek.

Jack rubbed the back of his head, grinning slightly before looking around the field. Upon closer inspection he noticed the saddened state of grandpa's garden. The garden was completely unkempt. Rocks, weeds, and tree stumps littered the entire field.

"Aye, your grandpa just finally got to the point that he couldn't keep up with his farming anymore. Sold all his animals to the Green Ranch. He tried to keep watering vegetables, but he fell one day and broke a couple ribs, so we told him he shouldn't do that anymore...and then, of course, watched him to make sure he really wouldn't do it."

Jack sat, listening to the disheartening story before picking up the basset hound and looking it straight in the face, "I'm gonna call you Buddy. That okay with you?"

The dog barked and wagged its tail.

"A fine name that is," The mayor chuckled at the young man's antics, "Well I'd best be off. Need to get home before supper or the wife will kill me. If there's anything you need, then just drop by the village and let me know.

Jack thanked the man and seen him off the property.

Jack walked into his grandpa's house and found it to be in pretty good condition compared to everything else he'd seen thus far. Though there wasn't anything really decorative about the one room home, it still had the homely vibe about it. Jack knew that grandpa was always the type that didn't see the necessity in buying the 'guilty pleasures' of life. Thus the furniture of the house were extremely basic: a table in the middle of the room, a bed in the corner, a nightstand beside it, a television for weather advisories and local news, and finally a toolbox filled with all of grandpa's old gardening equipment. The equipment in the toolbox included: an ax, a scythe, a hoe, a hammer, a watering can, and a full bag of dog food.

Feeling the sudden urge to get out, Jack grabbed the dog food and walked outside where Buddy was there to greet him with a wagging tail. Jack poured the contents of the bag into the dog bowl until it was filled. He sat there and watched the small dog eat and wondered if he was one of the pups of grandpa's old dog.

"Well Buddy, tomorrow's not going to come easy for me," Jack said, suddenly feeling the need to talk, "but I'll get by somehow."

Before he'd even realized it, the sun had disappeared from view and the night had set in. Jack walked back into the cabin with Buddy. He lied down on his bed and skimmed through his old photo album one more time, transfixed on the photo of his grandpa. He pet Buddy a few times before finally laying the album on the nightstand and drifting off into slumber.

* * *

The day dawned and Jack awoke bright and early to Buddy licking his face. He smiled and laughed a little bit before sighing. Today was the day. The service wasn't until two, so he decided that the best way to pass the time would be to try and do something about the weeds that were littered all over the field. He wheeled a wheelbarrow out from behind the stable, grabbed the scythe from the toolbox, and began slicing and dicing all the weeds he could and tossing the remains into the wheelbarrow. He was incredibly surprised to find himself having fun doing such a trivial thing. It was a wonderful source of stress relief. He wiped his brow with a white handkerchief from all his work and was quite surprised at the progress he had made.

"Oh wow, looks like you've been busy."

Jack jumped at the voice of the mayor behind him. "Sir, you startled me."

"Ha ha ha, I can see that," The mayor chuckled before letting a consoling expression adorn his face, "It's time."

"Already?!" Jack yelped in surprise. He looked at his watch and noticed that it was one-thirty in the afternoon. He didn't have time to wash up or do anything. He was going to have to go to his grandpa's funeral decked out in full farmer clothing. Jack chuckled inwardly despite himself; strangely enough he couldn't help thinking that grandpa wouldn't have had it any other way.

The mayor lead the way back into the village and into the local church where the service was to be held. A feeling of relief washed over Jack when he seen that everyone else was dressed just as casually as he was. Now he just wished he would have had time to wash the dirt and sweat from his face.

Jack took his position in the pallbearer's pew where five other men were sitting and quietly paying respect to his grandpa's life. Jack made short greetings with all of the men. There were the two twins who were carpenters in the village. They had spiky black hair with white strips of cloth tied around their forehead. Neither of the two thought to introduce themselves, but all the same seemed to be good people. The third person was a gruff brown haired and bearded man who snorted at him and had the faint smell of booze around him. His name was Gotz. The fourth person was a goofy-looking man just a few years older than Jack with a big nose who had been grandpa's mailman. His name was Harris. And the fifth man introduced himself as the owner of Green Ranch. He had vibrant, slicked-back orange hair and an orange mustache to go with it. His name was Hall.

The funeral service began and Pastor Brown spoke about how hardworking a man grandpa was and how he went to be with our father in heaven. Then a beautiful song was played on the organ by a young girl with braided hair and glasses. It entranced Jack as tears fell down from his face and he tried to hold back his sobs. Hall, in a fatherly manner, patted him on the back consolingly until Jack could pull himself together. The service ended at long last and the pallbearers all walked up and began gathering the flowers up in their arms and taking them over to the grave site.

Then it was finally time to carry the casket. The two carpenter twins took the front of the coffin with Gotz and Hall taking the back, which left Jack and Harris in the middle. They walked the casket all the way to the small cemetery and listened once more to Pastor Brown's eulogy.

And then it was over. Everyone gathered around the cemetery and started talking with one another in good nature. It was a good service. Grandpa wouldn't have had it any other way...

"H-Hi."

Jack turned around to see the girl with black braided hair who had played the organ during the service. "Oh hello there, I'm Jack."

"I'm M-Maria. Sorry for your loss..." The soft spoken girl replied in a sweet consoling tone.

"Thank you," Jack smiled reassuringly, "I'll be okay, I think. It just takes time..."

Jack frowned though as he looked around at all the people that had gathered and couldn't help noticing that one person in particular was missing.

"A-Are you alright...?"

Jack shook his scatterbrained head and refocused his attention on the girl before him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that."

An awkward tension rose up between the two as Jack couldn't think of what else to say. So he said the first thing that crossed his mind.

"You know, you're a great organ player."

"Really?" she asked sounding surprised.

Jack smiled, "Yeah, that song you played back in the church was really beautiful. Thank you for playing it."

The girl blushed a deep red and thanked him before running off. Jack scratched the back of his head confusingly but just shrugged his shoulders before departing quietly from the congregation.

* * *

Upon arrival back at the farm, he was immediately greeted by Buddy who came and jumped into his arms and started licking his face yet again. He laughed happily as he looked at the dog and massaged his ears.

"Well that took a lot out of me." Jack said to the dog filling him in on what happened.

"Jack!"

Jack turned around to see his father looking around the old farm he had been raised in with a little annoyance before sighing and looking back around at Jack. "Sorry I'm late...I guess grandpa's already...?"

"Yeah..." Jack stated in a rather displeasing tone.

Jack's dad was a salary man in the city he had slicked back brown hair and a mustache, which Jack was starting to think must be some local custom of Flowerbud Village since every man in/from the village seemed to have one so far. He wore an important business suit and looked like he had just came straight from his job.

"Yes well, I just got caught up in work..." was his excuse.

"Geez dad..." Jack sighed, "He was your dad; you, at the least, should have showed up..."

His dad just stood there not really making eye contact with him.

"I'll go talk with the villagers." He stated before walking off back toward the village.

Jack just shook his head and looked at Buddy whom had tilted his head to the side and perked up his ears in a confused manner.

"That's my dad for you, Buddy. He gets so wrapped up in his career that he forgets what's important in life. I only hope I don't turn out the same way..."

The dog whined a little and nudged Jack's chin up with his nose in an attempt to perk him up, which couldn't help but make Jack laugh.

"Alright boy, I'll be cheerful."

He reflected on everything that had happened while in Flowerbud Village. All the people seemed so friendly and loving to one another. A whole lot different than back in the city. Jack for the first time really felt this sense of belonging. Like this was the place that he needed to be.

A huge smile made its way onto Jack's face as an idea crossed his mind. He whistled Buddy to follow him and went running back toward the village looking for his dad. He caught up with him and called out for him to wait before coming to a complete stop in front of his dad. Jack's dad looked at him curiously as he gasped for breath from running so hard.

"I...was wondering...I want...to stay here," Jack panted heavily.

His father looked at him in surprise. "What?"

Jack stood up straight and looked his father in the eyes and smiled happily, "I want to stay here and work on grandpa's farm."

Jack's dad looked at him disapprovingly, "Jack, you don't know the first thing about running a—"

"I can learn!" Jack interjected immediately. "I want to learn! I'll do anything. I was out cutting weeds on the farm today. Sure it was hard work, but I've never done something that felt so fulfilling in all my life! And the village, dad, the village! Everyone's so nice to everyone else. It's so different compared to the city life...please dad..."

Jack just looked at his father evenly and practically pleaded with his eyes for his dad to let him stay and work the farm. His father grimaced before sighing and replying "You really want to work on the farm?"

"Absolutely. One hundred percent!" Jack begged.

As if to help him, Buddy began whining with him before barking loudly and panting happily.

His dad finally sighed and relented, "...Ok...do what you think is right. You're a grown man now so I see no reason why I should stop you."

Jack hugged his dad, "Thanks dad, you won't regret this, I promise!"

"Be sure I don't son," His dad said seriously. They said their partings and Jack waved goodbye to his dad and made his way back to his grandpa's house...no...his house.

"Tomorrow's going to be the beginning of a long day, Buddy," He told the dog as he laid himself upon his bed. He'd already written out the letters to the landlord of his apartment to send his things to his new address as well as set the money out for his last rent payment.

One thing was for certain. Tomorrow would be an exciting new day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jack awoke to the first glimpses of sunlight peeking through the window. He shielded his eyes from the sun hoping to fall back asleep. Unfortunately that plan was foiled when the mayor came knocking at the door. Sighing to himself, Jack hopped out of bed and threw on the closest available clothing, which just so happened to be his clothes from yesterday, and answered the door.

The mayor greeted him with his casual smile, "Good morning, sir."

Jack nodded his head in acknowledgment as he was still too tired to muster up a proper smile. "Hello Mr. Mayor. What brings you over so early?"

"Oh we all wake up bright and early around here," The mayor chuckled in good nature, "Anyway, I here you are going to be staying with us for a while. Am I correct?"

Jack nodded his head again this time with a bit more vitality. "Yes, sir." he announced happily finally bringing a smile to his face.

"Wonderful!" The mayor cried out in joy clasping Jack's hands and shaking them, "Well let me be the first to welcome you to Flowerbud Village."

Jack laughed hesitantly, "Thank...you...?"

"Come now boy don't be embarrassed," The mayor chuckled walking Jack out into the open sun, "It's a beautiful day today. If you'd like I can show you around the village. Would that be okay with you?"

Jack just couldn't help but smile at the the plump man's exuberance, "Alright."

"Excellent." The mayor smiled and started walking off back towards the village. Jack patted Buddy on the head and told him to stay put before running off to catch up with the mayor. They walked down the trodden dirt lane from Jack's house until they reached a crossroads. The mayor stopped here.

"Alright, I think this should be our first stop since you're going to be a farmer and all," The mayor decided while smiling the whole time. Jack couldn't help but figure the mayor enjoyed giving tours of his town. "Now if you take this path immediately to your right," The mayor continued, "You head towards Moon Mountain and the vineyard."

Jack could see a sign in the distance and asked, "So do I turn left toward the vineyard at that sign?"

"Yes," The mayor said before moving in to whisper in Jack's ear, "But between you and me, it's better to get wine from the bar at the moment. The vineyard's been going through a rough patch lately."

"Why's that?" Jack asked curiously.

"Oh lots of reasons, I suppose," The mayor sighed piquing Jack's interest, "But it's not for me to discuss...anyway..."

Jack couldn't help but feel like he was getting the short end of the stick, but decided that since the mayor didn't want to talk about it the matter must not be any of his business. So Jack decided to let go of the subject.

"This pathway to the left," The mayor continued picking up where he'd left off, "leads to Green Ranch. They'll be an important family to you as a farmer. They will teach you everything you need to know about raising animals. In fact, I believe they are looking for someone to take one of their horses. So you should drop by as soon as you can to make sure they don't sell it off."

The mayor smiled which Jack gratefully returned. They then took the middle path that lead the way into Flowerbud Village. It came as a big surprise to see how lively the village was for it being so early. People were out stirring and talking with their neighbors and opening their shops up for a hard day's work. Seeing all of them hard at work made Jack want to work hard too. His eagerness to get home and clean that rocky, stumpy, and weedy field had multiplied.

Finally the mayor came to a stop in front of a particular shop with a blue, shingled roof. The shop's name was "Flower Lillia" according to the gigantic sign they had plastered above their door frame. What was cute about the sign was the big yellow sunflower they had painted on it next to the shop name.

"This is the local florist's shop." The mayor explained, "They sell all the vegetable and grass seeds you will need for your farm and can tell you what to do and how to go about doing it."

At that moment the door to the shop opened and a woman no older than her thirties with bubblegum pink hair pinned up in a bun came out, holding the door open for a younger version of herself. Jack stared at the young lass who was carrying fertilizer and smiled slightly. She had the same pink hair as the woman holding the door open, but instead of having her hair up in a bun, the lass's hair flowed freely down her backside and was kept straight by a green headband. She had the smile of an angel and colorful pink eyes that you could get lost in were you not careful. She wore a white blouse with a long red dress over it...and may very well have been one of the most beautiful girls Jack had ever seen.

Reality set back in rather quickly as the woman holding the door open called out to her daughter, "Popuri, be careful, I don't want you getting hurt carrying that heavy fertilizer!"

"I won't!" The lass cried out happily as she set it beside the other packages of fertilizer alongside the house.

"Ah, Lillia. Business good as usual?" The mayor asked walking up to the older pink-haired woman with delight who smiled politely in return.

"Same as always. The Green Ranch easily keep us in business." The older lady stated with a short bow.

"I got you a new customer here," The mayor stated introducing Jack, "His name's Jack Harvest. He's taking over his grandpa's farm out near the Green Ranch.

"Well we will be more than welcome to have you." The older pink haired lady smiled as the young lass, Popuri if he recalled right, came bouncing up beside her.

"Hi! I'm Popuri!" the young lass introduced herself taking off her right hand's gardening glove and extending it with her brightest smile. Jack took her soft and delicate hand and shook it, but just as he was about to return the introductions she interrupted him, "Visit 'Flower Lillia' for all your flower and vegetable needs!"

"I-I will," Jack nodded, still a bit surprised by how nice and open she seemed to be.

Just as Jack was about to strike up a conversation with the pretty pink-haired lass, the mayor interjected, "Well we had best be off. It was good seeing you Lillia."

"Say hi to your wife for me," Lillia smiled to which the mayor politely nodded.

As the mayor and Jack walked off further down the road, Jack heard Popuri call out to him, "See you later!" He turned around to see her waving goodbye to him and he waved back in a shy sort of fashion.

"Girls that cute should not exist," Jack muttered to himself after they had gotten farther away from the flower shop, he almost instantly regretted saying anything when the mayor started chuckling beside him.

Thankfully, the mayor said nothing about it and continued the tour as if nothing unnatural had just taken place, and soon enough they found themselves in front of the church. "Of course you already know this place, so I'll make this short. Pastor Brown runs the church and is also the town's educator. So the church actually doubles as a school for our children."

They walked on down the path a little further until they stood in front of a building that had a lot of wine barrels outside the entrance. "That's the bar. It's only open in the evenings. I hear it's a good place to go after a hard day's work, though I don't normally go in there as I'm not much of a drinker."

Jack smiled understandingly. Jack couldn't say he was much of a drinker either. He couldn't drink more than one glass without feeling dizzy.

"Up those steps will take you to the village square," The mayor said pointing out the staircase up ahead of them. "It's where we hold most of our festivals.

Jack made a note of that and followed the mayor down a path immediately to the left of them. They walked that path through a lot of residential areas until they took another left down a separate road in the direction they'd come from. They stopped outside a small shop that looked like it may have been a barn at one time, but had since been revamped.

"This is the Tools and Crafts shop," The mayor stated, "You can buy lots of farm tools and miscellaneous goods here...provided of course it's open..."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked out of curiosity.

"I mean the place is hardly ever open," The mayor said as he tilted up his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "The boy who runs it is about your age, he's a good kid, though a bit eccentric. Anyway, he's closed on Wednesdays and Weekends. Plus he always comes in really late and then leaves early. I guess it's to be expected though since he has to walk all the way from Green Ranch."

"I see..."

As if to prove the mayor's point, a young man with vibrant orange hair and safety glasses came running at breakneck speed towards the shop. He was dressed in a green plaid shirt and wore blue overalls over it like many of the other local villagers. He stopped just right in front of them gasping for breath.

"Hello...there...sorry did...you need anything?" The young orange-haired man asked while panting.

"No no Rick, I'm just showing our newest villager around the town," The mayor greeted.

"I'm Jack," Jack greeted extending his hand.

"Rick. Welcome to Flowerbud Village." Rick nodded giving Jack's hand a firm shake. "Can I be expecting business from you then?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm sure I'll need tools for my farm somewhere down the line." Jack said laughing slightly.

"Well we had best be off," The mayor said also shaking Rick's hand, "Lots more places to visit."

After saying their goodbyes to Rick they walked further down the street until a sweet smell passed underneath Jack's nose. Soon enough, Jack found his stomach growling out in hunger.

"Hungry then are we?" The mayor asked while still walking, "It _is_ nearly three. We'll stop and get a bite to eat at the bakery."

They walked a little further until they came up to a building that had a sign in big bold red letters where the word 'Cake' was posted. Upon entering a little bell located above the door rang to signal to the people working that customers had come inside. The bakery was small in size, but had this air of homeliness that just sucked you into its atmosphere. The mayor and Jack found a booth, sat down, and waited for their waiter or waitress to come take their order.

Not a second later, a girl around his age came out of the back room with a ticket book in hand ready to take his order. Jack smiled as the girl came up to the booth. She had short brown hair and smelled of cakes. Jack didn't know whether it was the intoxicating aroma or her cute looking features, but for the second time today he found himself drawn toward another cute girl.

"Hello. My name is Elli and I'll be taking your order," she smiled before looking at Jack, "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you visiting?"

"No mam, I just moved into my grandpa's house out by Green Ranch. My name is Jack Harvest." He said greeting her and extending his hand which she shook with a sweet smile.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Harvest—"

"Call me Jack."

"Jack," she corrected herself smiling, "My name is Elli as you already know." She turned back to the mayor, "Same thing as usual, sir?"

"That would be lovely, Elli, thank you." the mayor replied gratefully giving her his menu.

"Okay," she said hopping a little to reposition her attention toward Jack, "and for you, sir?"

Jack looked over the menu haphazardly looking for something good so as not to keep the pretty waitress waiting, "I think I'll have the apple pie and a glass of tea."

"Okay. Sweet or Unsweet?" she asked again.

"...Sweet," he said smiling a little bit. Elli smiled as she took the menu.

"I'll have your orders out in a second," she told them before running off to give the orders to the cook.

"She's a good kid," the mayor spoke up conversationally to which Jack smiled. The two sat and talked a little more about the town until Elli came back out with an older gentleman in tow who had their orders in his hand.

"Jeff, this is the new guy in town I was telling you about," Elli said introducing the older gentleman to Jack. He had slicked back black hair with his own mustache like many of the other men in the village. He looked to be somewhere between his late twenties and early thirties. He was wearing a standard white bakery uniform with a red bow tie, and according to his name tag he was the owner of the bakery.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young sir," He greeted warmly as he put down their orders in front of them, "I hope the food is to your liking."

Jack dove into his pie without a second hesitation. "This is delicious!"

"Thank you. I am very grateful." Jeff replied smiling with pride.

After the meal, the mayor insisted he pay the bill and they said their goodbyes to Jeff and Elli and went off into the outskirts of the town. As they walked, Jack noticed three kids standing around a tree talking animatedly about what they had learned in school today. Jack couldn't help smiling at the kids and waving. He was happy to see them wave back at him too.

"If you ever get sick you should come here for medicine," The mayor said pointing at a building and walking onward in a dismissive fashion. Jack had to hurry to catch up with the mayor as he rounded the corner to stand in front of another building. As he made his way up beside the building two more women exited the building. A feeling of relief washed over Jack as he finally met someone he recognized from yesterday.

"Hey, Maria right?" he said running up to the braided-haired girl with glasses and greeting her with a handshake. To his surprise she moved back slightly and hid behind her mother. He blanked for a second wondering if he had done something wrong until she came back out. "H-Hi Jack," she greeted.

"Oh, so I see you've already met my family," The mayor replied with interest.

"Yes, sir. I met Maria at the funeral yesterday."

"Well that's good." The mayor smiled. "Well Maria is a receptionist here at the library. You can find all kinds of books on farming here, and I'm sure Maria would love to have the company. She often drawls about how boring the job is."

"Dad!" Maria yelled, blushing out of embarrassment.

They all shared a chuckle before the mayor shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Jack, "Well that's about all there is to know. Think you can get back on your own?"

"Yeah I can get home from here, thank you again for everything today." Jack replied gratefully.

"It was my pleasure, now if you'll excuse me I'll be taking my family home."

"B-Bye Jack," Maria said shyly.

"Bye Maria."

* * *

The sun was setting after a long day of memorizing. All along the way back home, Jack tried to reflect and remember all the people he had met and all the directions he had been given. He briefly stopped in front of the crossroads again and pointed out the directions to Moon Mountain, the vineyard, and Green Ranch to make sure he still remembered them from earlier and then walked down the necessary path back down to his house.

At long last his house came into view, but that's not what surprised him. Leaning up against the iron storage bin in front of the house was a new man he hadn't met yet. This man wasn't scrawny like most of the villagers, instead this man looked as though he had gone through some military training in his life. He was a well built man with a flat top haircut and big bushy eyebrows. He wore a white tank top with blue jeans and combat boots. He held a cool gaze as he looked down at Jack.

"You're the old man's grandson, right?" the man spoke.

"Y-Yeah," Jack stuttered out of intimidation.

"Let me cut to the chase," the man spoke again looking down at the boy, "Name's Zack. I'm a buyer, and your grandpa and I knew each other for a very long time. Unfortunately, I had to be out of town the day of his funeral..."

Jack didn't really know what to say to that so he opted for silence.

Zack turned around and tapped his hand against the iron storage bin before turning back around and looking at Jack again.

"Listen up rookie, because this is how things work. Any crops or produce you want to sell get tossed in this storage bin. I come by, I pick it up, and I give you money for all of it. How much I give you depends on how much you give me."

"Okay..." Jack said sighing at having to remember yet another mountain load of information.

"If you need any advice, check channel three on your television. They give a lot of advice to newbie farmers like you."

"...Thanks...I think..." Jack said.

Zack nodded and turned to leave, but stopped and gave a second glance over his shoulder, "Work slowly until you get used to doing the work. That's the best advice I can give you. Goodbye and good luck rookie."

And just like that the man walked off. Jack couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised at how nice the man turned out to be. Looks really can be deceiving.

Jack walked straight into the house and made a crash landing on his bed. He was so exhausted. What a day indeed. He jumped off the bed and grabbed a notebook and pencil from his travel bag and brought it over to the bed and began writing down all the information about the town he could remember.

_Diary Entry 1_

_HEADACHE! Okay I'm going to toss down all this information for future reference. Luckily I have an excellent memory, so I don't think I'll leave anything out...hopefully._

_1. At the crossroads, I turn right to get to the vineyard and Moon Mountain. I turn left to go to Green Ranch. I go straight to head into the village._

_2. I can buy vegetable seeds in the flower shop. The shop owner's name is Lillia and she has a beautiful daughter around my age named Popuri._

_3. Pastor Brown runs the church and also uses it as a school for the children of Flowerbud Village._

_4. The bar is open in the evenings. The stairway next to it leads up to the village square where most of the village festivals are held._

_5. The tool and craft shop is run by a man named Rick from Green Ranch. Seems like a nice guy._

_6. The bakery is run by a man named Jeff and a really cute girl named Elli works there...a really cute girl..._

_7. There's a doctor on the outskirts of town, I should go there if I get sick._

_8. The library is run by the mayor's family. His daughter, Maria, is the receptionist._

_9. Zack, the buyer, told me that he comes by the farm every day and picks up produce. He then buys it from me. In other words I can make money through him._

_Side Notes of the Day_

_1. Apparently the vineyard is having trouble of some sort. I should probably look into that someday and see if there's anything I can do to help._

_2. I didn't meet any of the pallbearers from grandpa's funeral today...this is a huge town and there are a lot of people I'm going to have to remember..._

_3. I can get a horse from the Green Ranch, but I have to go quickly or they may sell it._

Jack closed the journal tightly and rested his head upon the pillow. He was kinda surprised he had remembered everything. With everything said and done, and the dark night sky apparent through the window, Jack lulled away into distant slumber wondering what misadventures tomorrow would have in store for him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jack laid sprawled out on the grass panting to himself in a slow fashion. Today when he had gotten up he had made it an effort that he was going to try and clean up the field. So for the past five hours now, he had taken his hammer, his ax, and his scythe and laid into the field like there was no tomorrow. He hammered the rocks into rubble and slashed up the weeds. He even cut the tree stumps up into lumber and stacked them up near the stables beside the house.

He was starting to regret not listening to Zack yesterday, he really should have tried taking it easy until he got into the swing of things. But luckily all of Jack's efforts had paid off. The field was barren of all rocks, stumps and weeds at long last.

Jack crawled his way over to the watering hole as he didn't feel like standing up. He tossed his blue cap from his head and doused his head into the water. When he came up for air, his hair and face were drenched. He then cupped a handful of water and let the liquid pour into his mouth to quench his thirst.

Feeling relieved for the moment, he stood up and decided that he would pay a visit to Green Ranch about that horse.

He walked down to the crossroads and hung the necessary left he needed to take. He started walking slowly in hopes that he didn't pass it by, which proved later to be unnecessary as the huge sign "Green Ranch" came into view. Jack walked uneasily around the property, unsure whether or not it was okay to just waltz onto someone else's property without permission.

He walked up to a nearby house and knocked on the door, but no one answered.

"Ah Jack, over here."

Jack turned around to see Hall, the ranch owner with slicked back orange hair that served as a pallbearer at his grandfather's funeral, motioning for him to come over to the shop across the way. Upon getting there, Jack greeted the older man with a handshake.

"I heard from the mayor that you're taking over your grandpa's farm," He laughed in amusement, "Well, I suppose you'll be giving our ranch a bit of competition from now on."

"Well, I don't really intend to make this competitive," Jack stated uneasily, "I just want to be able to make enough money so I don't starve."

"Of course," Hall chuckled in amusement, "So what brings you out to Green Ranch? Anything I can do for you?"

"Well, I heard from the mayor that you're looking to get rid of a horse—"

"Ah, I see," Hall nodded understandingly with a glint in his eye, "Well then you wait right here, and I'll see about fetching him up for you."

Jack nodded gratefully as he watched Hall make his way over to the barn. Not knowing what else to do, Jack made his way over near the wooden fence posts by the barn and leaned against one of them. He waited their patiently for a few minutes when a horse came up beside him from the other side of the fence post.

Not sure on what he was supposed to do, Jack just pet the horse across its nose and mane. The horse neighed in satisfaction startling Jack.

"I'm impressed. Cliffguard can be pretty hard to please."

Jack looked over to see a really cute farm girl coming his way. She looked to be around his age, and had the same vibrant orange hair as Hall and Rick. Her hair was put up in a braided ponytail and she had a white bow in her hair as a means to hold it in place. She had the most captivating sky blue eyes that Jack had ever laid eyes upon.

"So do you like horses?"

Jack shook his head to get his barrings back again. Once again, he had been enamored by a woman that was way too cute to exist. "Y-Yeah...well...sort of...I don't really know yet to be honest."

The girl started laughing then gave him a slap on the back, "Well we'll have to fix that now won't we?"

Jack grinned at her tomboyish antics, "I guess so."

She gave Jack a million watt smile, "You seem like a really nice guy."

Jack pulled his head away from her view to hide the growing blush that was masking his face. She was being way too cute...

"Hey...are you listening?"

Jack pulled his head up to see that the girl was an inch away from his face. Jack's eyes bugged out as she looked at him curiously before feeling his forehead with her hand.

"That's weird. You're so red, but you don't feel feverish...?" she stated amusedly.

"I-It's because I've been working all day!" Jack barked out rather loudly and then descended into a stream of laughter to ease away the tension he was feeling.

"I see..." The girl smirked, which was setting off warning signals all around Jack's head. "Wait here one sec."

Jack watched the girl as she walked back over to the barn and called out to somebody inside the barn. Jack let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. As he stood there letting the tension ease out of him, the girl came out of the barn with a man also around their age. Like the other inhabitants of Green Ranch he had vibrant orange hair, but he hid it behind a blue hat with a local feed mill logo on it. The man was in gardener's clothes and was glaring at Jack as he approached.

"So what do you think, brother?" the girl asked, "He looks about right. Seems like a good match don't you think?"

Jack felt another small blush come onto his face. 'Just what in the world are they talking about?' he wondered.

"...Not a chance." The man said glaring coldly into Jack's eyes and with that the man walked off again back for the barn.

"Oh, Gray!" She pouted out of irritation.

Jack, for the first time, found himself to be annoyed with one of the locals, "What's his problem?"

"Oh, don't mind my brother," the girl sighed before puffing her cheeks up haughtily and calling out to Gray. "He's a social disaster!"

Gray didn't seem the least bit jarred by the insult and walked back into the barn with no retaliating remarks.

Jack snorted to relieve some of his anger at the guy.

"Anyway," the girl went on, "We have a proposition for you. We have local horse races once every month. We want you to enter under the Green Ranch name, and in return we will give you a free horse."

"Free?!" Jack shouted out in disbelief. "Really?!"

"Really," the girl smiled, "Oh and by the way. My name is Ann."

"I'm Jack. Pleasure to meet you," Jack said introducing himself wholeheartedly.

The doors to the barn opened and Hall came out with a small brown pony in tow. Jack just looked at the pony with awe. The little guy was cool. He had a lot of energy in him, but looked to be extremely well behaved.

"So has Ann sold you on the pony yet," Hall asked in good nature, "We could really use your help in the local horse races. There's some stiff competition out there."

"Sir, I'd be more than willing," Jack said without hesitation. He really didn't have a clue about what went into horse racing, but he was sure that it couldn't be too hard...or at least that's what he hoped.

"Okay then, I'll bring this pony over to your farm now," Hall said pleasantly. With that said he walked off toward Jack's farm with the little pony in tow.

"He's cute...the pony I mean," Jack said rubbing the back of his head.

"Well of course he is," Ann giggled, "He's a baby. He's suppose to be cute. And thank you so much for doing this for us! Do your best to win the horse races.

Jack nodded and pumped up a fist, "Leave it to me!"

Ann nodded happily before asking curiously, "So what are you going to name him?"

"Do I have to...?" Jack asked. He wasn't really expecting to have to name his horse.

"Well of course silly." Ann laughed slapping Jack on the back again, "Otherwise they won't be able to tell which is yours during the horse races."

Jack thought it over for a minute before he finally came up with a name that he liked and replied with his answer, "Pierce."

"Hmm, it's not a bad name. But it's not very creative." Ann said unsuredly.

"Well I never said I was original," Jack shrugged with a slight chuckle.

"Well take good care of him," Ann replied with a hint of worry in her voice, "If you treat him with a lot of love and care, Pierce should grow up to be a big and strong horse."

Jack got the distinct impression that Ann really loved animals. "You know, I could use some help taking care of him until I get everything situated. If you're not too busy, you're welcome to stop by and help,"

Ann's cheeks turned a little pink before she nodded, "Okay, I will! But only when I'm not busy..."

Jack nodded happily and said his goodbyes to the Green Ranch. The evening sun was beginning to set in, but Jack decided that if it still wasn't too late he had one more place that he wanted to visit...

* * *

Jack walked up the pathway to the vineyard and breathed in a sigh of relief when he made it to the top. When he finally took the time to look around, Jack couldn't help gawking at the sheer size of the estate. They had an elaborate two-story house unlike many of the other residents of the village and a separate house across from it for the field workers. The field was tucked back behind both the houses and extended in a rectangular fashion all the way back to the white fence in the distance. Jack walked out onto the field and took a look at the nearest plant but frowned when he noticed that not many grapes seemed to be growing from the vines.

"Hey, what's up man? Need something?"

Jack looked back to see one of the vintners of the plantation. Unlike most of the locals, he was of African descent and wore a purple bandana and purple pants. He had on a white collared shirt and a brown over shirt.

"No, sorry, I was just looking around." Jack apologized.

"Hey now, no worries, and in case you were wondering, grape season isn't until the fall," The young man grinned, "The name's Kai. I'm the head vintner working under the master."

"Jack, I'm new in town." Jack introduced himself yet again for the umpteenth time since he arrived.

"Yeah, I know how that's like. If you hadn't guessed by now, I'm not really from around here myself." Kai said as he came over and poked Jack in the ribs with his elbow.

Jack smiled and began conversing with the young vintner. After a good, thirty-minute long talk with the man, Jack decided it was time to leave and Kai walked him back to the exit to see him off.

Just as Jack turned to leave, the front door to the estate flew open and another unknown girl around Jack's age came marching out in a storm of fury. She was wearing brown running shoes and blue jean shorts that went down to her knees. She had on a white shirt and a purple vest to go over it. She had blonde dyed bangs that perfectly complimented her light brown hair, but what really caught Jack's attention were her jade green eyes that were filled with a passionate fury as she stormed past him in the direction of the exit.

Just as she looked to be home free, Gotz, the gruff looking pallbearer from grandpa's funeral, came running out of the estate chasing after her. His face was red with rage and anger. "Karen! Get back here this instant!"

"No!" the girl yelled, turning around to stare at Gotz in defiant aggravation. "Gosh! You're a terrible father! Why can't you just let me live my own life!"

She turned around after saying that and ran off down the hill.

"Karen! Don't be so selfish, Karen!" Gotz yelled after her, but when it proved fruitless he vented his anger out on the nearby fence with a kick, "Grr. What an undutiful daughter!"

Jack and Kai sat there speechless as many people do after witnessing something dramatic play out. Upon seeing the two of them, Gotz lashed out at them, "Well what are you two looking at?!"

Jack and Kai stuttered for an answer, but it didn't seem Gotz was really looking for one because he trudged back into his estate slamming the door behind him.

Jack gulped as Kai sighed to himself.

"What was all that about," Jack asked hesitantly.

Kai spoke up in a soft tone, "That was Miss Karen. She's the master's daughter. She's been wanting to leave for the city recently, and it's been causing a lot of quarrels between her and the master.

"I see..." Jack said despite himself. He really couldn't understand why someone would actually _want_ to live in the city. "Well this was definitely interesting."

"Welcome to the vineyard. Story of my life," Kai laughed.

* * *

Jack walked back down the hill still feeling a little uneasy at the fight he had witnessed at the vineyard, he was so lost in his thoughts that the crossroad came and went, and before he realized it he was once again standing in front of Green Ranch. Jack smacked his head tiredly from having made such a careless mistake.

That's when he heard it. The sound of waves crashing against a nearby shore. Earlier when he had came by Green Ranch, he was so busy conversing with Ann and thinking about getting a horse that the sound must have blended into his surroundings, but now that he was actually listening for it he could hear it plain as day.

He went a little further down the narrow pathway away from Green Ranch and soon found himself walking down a steep slope onto a private beach. Jack's eyes widened in awe as he looked out at the fiery red sunset that cascaded across the waters and sands. It was one of the most beautiful scenes he had ever seen in his life. Words could never begin to express the sunset's beauty.

Jack looked around the shoreline after finally taking his eyes away from the sunset to notice that there was a dock extending out onto the water. As he approached the dock, he noticed that someone was sitting down at the end of it. Whoever it was, she was crying. The last thing that Jack wanted to do was invade somebody's privacy. However as he went to walk away, the stranger got up and turned around making eye contact with him.

Jack immediately recognized the girl from her clothing, it was the girl who stormed off from the vineyard earlier. Karen, if he recalled right.

"S-Sorry," Jack stuttered offhandedly, "I'll just be going now..."

As Jack turned to walk back toward his house, Karen spoke out to him in a calm manner, "...You don't look familiar."

Jack refocused his attention her cautiously. She didn't seem to be irritated that he disrupted her privacy so he decided to answer the question. "Y-Yeah, well I'm not from around here. I moved here to take over my grandpa's farm."

"Where are you from," She asked with a hint of disinterest.

"Well...I'm from—"

"Never mind," Karen replied immediately cutting Jack off. She sighed to herself, "It doesn't really matter to me. Besides, you'll be gone soon enough."

"What makes you say that?" Jack asked now feeling a little annoyed.

The girl just smiled a small smile and walked passed him.

"Hey. Hey! I'm not done talking to you." Jack called out to her to which Karen just waved goodbye. Jack followed her out of aggravation all the way back to the crossroads .

"Stop following me," she finally said stopping and turning around to glare at Jack. Even Jack had to admit that it was pretty intimidating being on the receiving end of her piercing green eyes.

"I just want to know why you said that," Jack sighed, still a bit miffed from earlier.

The girl responded by brushing one of her blonde bangs back over her ear. She then held up one finger and put it up against his lips.

"Don't talk so much." The girl ordered tiredly. "If it bugs you that much then prove me wrong. It's as simple as that. So don't go getting all riled up over nothing."

Jack took a deep long breath and then vented the air out his nose. The girl finally removed her finger from his lips, turned, and walked off toward the village.

"I'm Jack, by the way!" he called out to the girl. "And I'm going to prove you wrong!"

The girl looked over her shoulder for a brief glance, "Karen." She replied back and resumed walking away.

* * *

Jack slammed the door behind him and sat down on his bed. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so aggravated. He pulled his diary from the nightstand and skimmed through it to a blank page to blot down his day.

_Diary Entry 2_

_Alright, well I'm just a little pissed right now, but I'll get back to that in a minute. I went out to Green Ranch today and got that horse the mayor was talking about yesterday. I met a wonderful girl today. Her name is Ann. She's a little tomboyish, but she's super cute. I also met a vintner from the vineyard. His name's Kai and we got along pretty well. He's an all around nice guy. Unlike some people I know._

_Ann's brother, Gray, ...I don't even know where to begin. I've never even met the guy before but the first thing he says to me is that I have no chance at raising horse that can win the horse races? Well I'll show him! Bastard..._

_And then there's Karen...she just...I just...grr...she just got under my skin in all the wrong ways. She thinks that I'll give up the farm life and move back to the city. I bet she only said that because she hates it here. Or at least that's what Kai said. God, I'm not even sure how she pissed me off now. She told me to prove her wrong, so that's what I'm going to do._

Jack tossed the diary back onto the nightstand and lied down on his bed to vent out his frustrations. He couldn't even remember the last time he got this riled up about something. One thing was for certain. Tomorrow, 'Operation: Prove Them Wrong' would commence.


End file.
